MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian internet giant Yandex reported a 40% rise in first-quarter revenue to 228.3 billion roubles ($2.47 billion), driven by growth in e-commerce and ride-hailing, with the market awaiting news on a much anticipated corporate spin-off.

Yandex’s Nasdaq-listed and Dutch-registered parent, Yandex NV, in February struck a $5.2-billion deal after months of negotiations to sell its assets in Russia at a heavily discounted price due to Kremlin demands on foreign asset sales.

The first part of the deal’s closing is imminent, according to two people familiar with the matter.

Yandex’s search and portal business and entertainment services were also among the business lines to contribute to the revenue rise, Yandex said.

Net profit for the quarter stood at 21.6 billion roubles, while adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation, reached 37.6 billion roubles.

Yandex has gained market share in Russia’s online search and advertising sector since Alphabet’s Google stopped selling online advertising in Russia in March 2022.

But since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Yandex has had to cut back in other ways as it looked to depoliticise its business.

It sold its news feed and homepage to state-controlled rival VK.

($1 = 92.3750 roubles)

(Reporting by Alexander Marrow and Gleb Stolyarov; editing by Jason Neely)